For Dragonflies And Me is an extension of my heart's love for gardening, bird watching and cooking all together in one wonderful place for you to come and get a peek into our lives at The Garden Gate Farm. Sit back with a cup of coffee and enjoy!

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Sunflower heads that Ryan and I harvested from our back field
to feed the birds this winter

The Season of Autumn...
This is Neil's and most of the children's favorite season... I
like
it too, but I am all about Spring and Summer. I do love Autumn for
the harvest though... the smell and crunch of the leaves under
foot... the caa-caa of the Blue Jays feasting on the sunflowers in the
front garden... the sound of the wind whistling through the leaves still
hanging onto the branches... not quite ready to sail away...watching
our can shelves, freezers and root cellars start to fill up to over
flowing... Oh the bounty of Autumn, how thankful are we! The children
enjoy the slower pace that Autumn leans into... once the fields are
plowed and all that is left is the hoop house and animal care duties,
life seems to take on a slower pace... more relaxed and peaceful. Now
the boys and Neil are in full swing of making firewood to both heat our
home and to sell at market. I love to hear the chainsaws roaring and the
smack of the axe. I get to start using the cook stove again now... oh
that smell of wood burning so close lends to a feeling more cozy than
words can describe. I love our cook stove... it reminds me of when we
would go way up North into Canada to visit my dad's folks. They didn't
have electricity or indoor plumbing until I was about 12 years old... I
loved the smell that rose into the upstairs when grandma was frying up
fresh eggs and bacon for breakfast... covered and cozy under her
quilts... not really wanting to venture out into the cold... the heat
would start to move slowly through the old farm house upstairs and then I
would jump out of bed and quick get dressed and run downstairs.
Everyone else was always up and moving long before I. It was a happy
feeling... a cozy, homey feeling that I had there. Now I have a cook
stove of my own and although I only use it in the cold months, I can't
think of doing without it.

Life is good right now and quickly moving by...
We are trying to get all the last things done around the farm before the
snow flies.
Harvest time is in full swing for most farmers right now. We are
expecting some freezing temps here the next couple days so many of us
are picking all the tomatoes~ green and all and everything else that
will not sustain a frost or freeze. Ryan
and I got all the sunflower heads harvested
from the back field this past week. They are drying out nicely in the
barn (see photo's on my blog spot or web site). The back field is ready
to be plowed up now for the season. We still need to get all the herbs
from the Sausage Garden in though... Much of the Fennel is still green; I
need to harvest the
heads that are dry to save the seed. This will be what Neil uses in our
farms Italian Sausages; Parsley will be harvested for our Italian Herb
& Cheese; Sage will be dried for our Breakfast; Marjoram, Summer
Savory and all the others will need to be brought in as well. Garlic
needs to be planted within the next two to three weeks for next years
harvest; spinach, lettuce, sorrel, and parsley need to be transplanted
into the hoop house for winter production. Life keeps us busy, even in
our slower time.

This is the hoop house right now. We just
pulled out the majority of the cherry tomato
plants, leaving only a few until they are killed
by a hard freeze. We will plant spinach, lettuce,
chard, sorel and parsley transplants from the sausage
garden. We will direct seed radishs beside them
for winter production for our winter markets.

As I have been mentioning for the last several
months, I will be discussing how to keep all this beautiful Autumn
bounty in Root Storage as well as drying and freezing herbs. The bulk
of the info will be taken and adapted from "Root Cellaring- Natural Cold Storage Of Fruits & Vegetables" by, Mike and Nancy Bubel; published by Storey Publishing.
This is the best book out there and gives the most concise information
on this topic. It is a must have for anyone looking to store what they
have grown. Be sure to check my blog spot at
www.fordragonfliesandme.blogspot.com for lots of great photos to go with
this post!

There are several aspects to consider when planning for a root storage
crop and keeping it. Much of this planning is done in January and
February for the home gardener when the garden is being planned. The
seed catalogs are abounding in the mail box and it is a thrill to sit
with notepad and pen and jot down all the new things you want to try to
grow... but you must take into consideration what you want to do with
your crops~ simply have a small garden that you can snack on through the
season or are you planning on feeding your family all that good stuff
through the miserable cold days of winter when that beautiful garden is
layered with white stuff and stone hard frozen. Well, if the later is
your intent, then planning is key & crucial... plus it's just plain
fun to page through those beautiful catalogs and plan that garden.
Before I had my green houses and hoop house this was my only way to keep
it together through the non-gardening months... now I am happily
spoiled!

Here is a list of the considerations that are crucial:
*Choose crops that are meant for winter storage along with all the fresh eating crops during the growing season.
*The amount of moisture required for each particular crop.
*Temperature required to hold the crop.
*Where are you going to store your crops?
*Learning what can & can't be kept together.

Today we will look at what crops are Good Keepers and Temperatures and Amounts of Moisture Required for crops.

~So here is a list of vegetable that keep well; I have not
listed anything that I have not tried myself, the above mentioned book
has a much more extensive list of thier successes.
*Beets- Detroit Dark Red and Long Season
*Brussels Sprouts- Long Island Improved
*Cabbage- Late Flat Dutch, January King and Danish Ballhead
*Carrots- Danvers and Chantenay
*Celery- Utah
*Kohlrabi- White Vienna and Purple Vienna
*Leeks- American Flag, Lexton and Bandit
*Onions- Copra and Red Zeppelin
*Parsnips- All American
*Sweet Potatoes- Beauregard
*Potatoes- Russet (White baker), Yukon Gold (yellow), Kennebec (white) and Red Norland (Red)
*Rutabaga- Laurentian and Purple Top
*Winter Squash- Acorn, Sweet Dumpling, Buttercup, Butternut and any Hubbards.
*Turnips- Purple Top White Globe
*Apples- any late season hard apples will do well.
~ This is such a minute list of what is available, but I don't feel
comfortable telling you things that I haven't personally experience. You
can get really good details about crops and their holding qualities in
Johny's Seed Catalog along with our topic book. Have fun with your
garden and try two or three varieties of each crop to do your own
testing and see what you & your family like.

The next important factor to take into
consideration when you are planning your crop choices is your location
for storage and the amount of Moisture and Humidity that you are going
to be dealing with. This will help you determine which crops and
varieties as well.

In the next post I will go into more detail with where to store all this wonderful bounty... keep posted!

Butternut Squash and Bacon Quiche

All purpose flour for rolling

1 recipe Flaky Pie dough (below)

8 slices bacon (Off course Garden Gates!)

1 medium yellow onion, halved and thinly sliced

Salt & pepper

3/4 pound butternut squash, peeled, halved and very thinly sliced

8 large eggs

1/2 c whole milk

1/2 c heavy cream

6 fresh sage leaves

1.Preheat oven to 350 digress.On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to an 11x15 inch rectangle.Transfer to a 9x13 inch baking pan.Fold edges of dough so sides are about 1 inch high.Prick dough all over with a fork and freeze until firm, 15 minutes.Press on dough, draping over rim of pan.Bake until crust is firm and edges are lightlybrowned, about 35– 45 minutes or untilbottom is dry and light golden.

2.Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook bacon over medium until almost crisp, 10 minutes, flipping once.Drain bacon on paper towels.Add onion to skillet, season with salt & pepper, and cook, stirring often, until golden brown,10 minutes.Spread mixture evenly in crust.Top with squash, overlapping slices and adding a piece of bacon every few rows.3.In a bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and cream; season with salt 7 pepper.Pour enough egg mixture over filling to just reach top of crust.Top with sage.Bake until set in center and puffed at edges, 45 minutes.Let cool 15minutes.Asian Chicken Slaw

2 chicken breasts, deboned & skinned, cooled & diced

4 c cabbage, thinly sliced

1/2 conions thinly sliced

3 tbsp rice vinegar or regular

2 tbsp peanut oil

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1 tsp sugar

1.in a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage and onions.

2.Add remaining ingredients and toss to blend.Add salt & pepper to taste.3.Serve as a salad or fill pita pocketsHappy Day,Jean

Dragonfly Learns to Fly

"Climbing to Glory", by Jean Smith

Organic Living...

To Do List Tag

BBQ Station

Read more in July 9th's blog post!

Table settings add such charm

Heirloom Tomatoes

Brushetta is now... see my recipe!

"My Garden Of Prayer", by Helen Steiner Rice

My garden beautifies my yardand add fragrance to the air,But it is also my cathedral andmy quiet place of prayer.So little do we realize thatthe glory and the powerOf Him who made the universelie hidden in a flower!

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About Me

Welcome to my blogs! My life is filled with a husband, six children and a very busy farm and market life. Our family runs a small, organic CSA and hog farm called The Garden Gate in the thumb of Michigan. My blogs are a reflection of our lives and our Christian walk here. I have always loved to journal and now I am able to share my heart and the random thoughts that take place...May you join me here often.